Londoners have worst debt problems in whole of UK

As house prices have began to fall in the capital, there is more news that London may be struggling, perhaps the gloss has come off the largest city in the UK, until recently one of the most desirable cities in the world to live in.

Now a new study has found that people living in the capital have the worst debt issues of anyone else in the UK.

This news will come as no shock to people struggling in the capital with high living costs and wages that are increasingly not.

A leading debt charity, StepChange, published the findings. They looked at data from their 15,000 clients and discovered the average level of debt was at £12,402, this is 3.5 per cent more than people who live outside of London.

Also people who live in the capital were forty per cent more likely to have to seek help from StepChange due to their dire financial situations. Additionally, people in the London are more likely to behind with council tax and rent or mortgage payments.

Wealthier people turn to credit to get them out of a financial conundrum while poorer people are more likely to miss paying bills, to try and deal with their money issues, the report found

The new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, will need to try and mange the debt crisis in London, with households increasingly struggling to get by. There is concern that people may start to leave the capital and live in other parts of the UK or abroad, as the simply can’t afford to live in the capital.

This could be a huge issue for essential key workers, but could also begin to push out the professional classes, who are usually drawn into London with the offer of large salaries, not accessible in other part of the UK.

Joe is a freelance journalist who writes news and features for national newspapers and a variety of magazine titles. He studied Economics and Politics at the University of Manchester and also has a Masters in Journalism from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.